The present invention relates to an ink-jet print method and apparatus for printing lines by discharging an ink from an ink-jet head onto a recording member, a color filter, a display device, an apparatus having the display device, an ink-jet head unit adjusting device, and an ink-jet head unit.
With recent advances in personal computers, especially portable personal computers, the demand tends to arise for liquid crystal displays, especially color liquid crystal displays. However, in order to further popularize the use of liquid crystal displays, a reduction in cost must be achieved. Especially, it is required to reduce the cost of a color filter which occupies a large proportion of the total cost. Various methods have been tried to satisfy the required characteristics of color filters while meeting the above requirements. However, any method capable of satisfying all the requirements has not been established. The respective methods will be described below.
The first method is a pigment dispersion method. In this method, a pigment-dispersed photosensitive resin layer is formed on a substrate and patterned into a single-color pattern. This process is repeated three times to obtain R, G, and B color filter layers.
The second method is a dyeing method. In the dyeing method, a water-soluble polymer material as a dyeable material is applied onto a glass substrate, and the coating is patterned into a desired shape by a photolithographic process. The obtained pattern is dipped in a dye bath to obtain a colored pattern. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, and B color filter layers.
The third method is an electrodeposition method. In this method, a transparent electrode is patterned on a substrate, and the resultant structure is dipped in an electrodeposition coating fluid containing a pigment, a resin, an electrolyte, and the like to be colored in the first color by electrodeposition. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, and B color filter layers. Finally, these layers are calcined.
The fourth method is a print method. In this method, a pigment is dispersed in a thermosetting resin, a print operation is performed three times to form R, G, and B coatings separately, and the resins are thermoset, thereby forming colored layers. In either of the above methods, a protective layer is generally formed on the colored layers.
The point common to these methods is that the same process must be repeated three times to obtain layers colored in three colors, i.e., R, G, and B. This causes an increase in cost. In addition, as the number of processes increases, the yield decreases. In the electrodeposition method, limitations are imposed on pattern shapes which can be formed. For this reason, with the existing techniques, it is difficult to apply this method to TFTs. In the print method, a pattern with a fine pitch is difficult to form because of poor resolution and poor evenness.
In order to eliminate these drawbacks, methods of manufacturing color filters by an ink-jet system are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 59-75205, 63-235901, and 1-217320. In these methods, inks containing coloring agents of three colors, i.e., R (red), G (green), and B (blue), are sprayed on a transparent substrate by an ink-jet system, and the respective inks are dried to form colored image portions. In such an ink-jet system, R, G, and B pixels can be formed at once, allowing great simplification of the manufacturing process and a great reduction in cost.
When a color filter is to be manufactured by such an ink-jet system, an ink is discharged onto each pixel while an elongated ink-jet head having a plurality of ink discharging nozzles is scanned over a color filter substrate. This scanning is performed a plurality of number of times to color the respective pixel portions. In this case, the amounts of ink discharged from the respective ink discharging nozzles slightly differ from each other. If, therefore, each pixel array is colored with the same nozzle, the pixel arrays colored with the nozzles from which the ink is discharged in large amounts become dense in color, but the pixel arrays colored with the nozzles from which the ink is discharged in small amounts become light in color. Consequently, the resultant color filter has color irregularity.
In addition, to manufacture a color filter, such elongated ink-jet heads must be prepared for three colors, i.e., R (red), G (green), and B (blue). It takes a lot of time and labor to adjust the relative positions of these three heads.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an ink-jet print method and apparatus which can perform a high-quality print operation with little density irregularity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a color filter, a display device, and an apparatus including the display device which are manufactured by the above print method and apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an ink-jet head unit adjusting device and method which can easily adjust the relative positions of a plurality of heads, and an ink-jet head unit.
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the above objects, an ink-jet head unit adjusting device of the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement according to its first aspect.
There is provided an adjusting device for adjusting an ink-jet head unit having a plurality of ink-jet heads and used for an apparatus for printing lines by discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning the ink-jet head unit relative to the recording member, comprising positional offset detection means for detecting a relative positional offset between the plurality of ink-jet heads, and angle detection means for detecting inclination angles of the plurality of ink-jet heads with respect to the scanning direction.
An ink-jet head unit adjusting device of the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement according to its second aspect.
There is provided an adjusting device for adjusting an ink-jet head unit having a plurality of ink-jet heads, each having a plurality of nozzles, and used for an apparatus for printing lines by discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning the ink-jet head unit relative to the recording member, comprising measuring means for measuring variations in amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and calculation means for generating data for correcting the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles on the basis of data about the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles which are measured by the measuring means.
An ink-jet head unit adjusting method of the present invention is characterized by the following process according to its first aspect.
There is provided an adjusting method for adjusting an ink-jet head unit having a plurality of ink-jet heads and used for an apparatus for printing lines by discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning the ink-jet head unit relative to the recording member, comprising the positional offset detection step of detecting a relative positional offset between the plurality of ink-jet heads, the angle detection step of detecting inclination angles of the plurality of ink-jet heads with respect to the scanning direction, and the adjusting step of adjusting the ink-jet head unit on the basis of the detection results obtained in the positional offset detection step and the angle detection step.
An ink-jet head unit adjusting method of the present invention is characterized by the following process according to its second aspect.
There is provided an adjusting method of adjusting an ink-jet head unit having a plurality of ink-jet heads, each having a plurality of nozzles, and used for an apparatus for printing lines by discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning the ink-jet head unit relative to the recording member, comprising the measuring step of measuring variations in amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and the calculation step of generating data for correcting the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles on the basis of data about the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles which are measured in the measuring step.
An ink-jet print method according to the present invention is characterized by the following process.
There is provided an ink-jet print method of discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles relative to the recording member, and printing lines by scanning the ink-jet head a plurality of number of times, comprising the discharging amount measuring step of measuring amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and the nozzle selection step of selecting nozzles, of the plurality of nozzles, which are to be used in each of a plurality of scanning operations on the basis of the amounts of ink discharged from the nozzles which are obtained in the discharging amount measuring step.
An ink-jet print apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement.
There is provided an ink-jet print apparatus for discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles relative to the recording member, and printing lines by scanning the ink-jet head a plurality of number of times, comprising discharging amount measuring means for measuring amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and nozzle selection means for selecting nozzles, of the plurality of nozzles, which are to be used in each of a plurality of scanning operations on the basis of the amounts of ink discharged from the nozzles which are obtained by the discharging amount measuring means.
A color filter according to the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement.
There is provided a color filter manufactured by discharging inks onto a substrate while scanning an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles relative to the substrate, and coloring pixels by scanning the ink-jet head a plurality of number of times, wherein the color filter is colored by measuring amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and selecting nozzles, of the plurality of nozzles, which are to be used in each of a plurality of scanning operations on the basis of the obtained amounts of ink discharged from the respective nozzles.
A display device according to the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement.
There is provided a display device including color filter manufactured by discharging inks onto a substrate while scanning an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles relative to the substrate, and coloring pixels by scanning the ink-jet head a plurality of number of times, integrally comprising a color filter colored by measuring amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and selecting nozzles, of the plurality of nozzles, which are to be used in each of a plurality of scanning operations on the basis of the obtained amounts of ink discharged from the respective nozzles, thereby coloring the color filter, and light amount changing means for changing a light amount.
An apparatus including a display device according to the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement.
There is provided an apparatus including a display device including a color filter manufactured by discharging inks onto a substrate while scanning an ink-jet head having a plurality of nozzles relative to the substrate, and coloring pixels by scanning the ink-jet head a plurality of number of times, comprising a display device integrally including a color filter colored by measuring amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and selecting nozzles, of the plurality of nozzles, which are to be used in each of a plurality of scanning operations on the basis of the obtained amounts of ink discharged from the respective nozzles, thereby coloring the color filter, and light amount changing means for changing a light amount, and image signal supply means for supplying an image signal to the display device.
An ink-jet head unit adjusting device of the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement according to its third aspect.
There is provided an adjusting device for adjusting an ink-jet head unit having a plurality of ink-jet heads, each having a plurality of nozzles, and used for an apparatus for printing lines by discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning the ink-jet head unit relative to the recording member, comprising positional offset detection means for detecting a relative positional offset between the plurality of ink-jet heads, angle detection means for detecting inclination angles of the plurality of ink-jet heads with respect to the scanning direction, measuring means for measuring variations in amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and calculation means for generating data for correcting the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles on the basis of data about the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles which are measured by the measuring means.
An ink-jet head unit adjusting method of the present invention is characterized by the following process according to its third aspect.
There is provided an adjusting method of adjusting an ink-jet head unit having a plurality of ink-jet heads, each having a plurality of nozzles, and used for an apparatus for printing lines by discharging inks onto a recording member while scanning the ink-jet head unit relative to the recording member, comprising the positional offset detection step of detecting a relative positional offset between the plurality of ink-jet heads, the angle detection step of detecting inclination angles of the plurality of ink-jet heads with respect to the scanning direction, the measuring step of measuring variations in amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles, and the calculation step of generating data for correcting the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles on the basis of data about the variations in the amounts of ink discharged from the plurality of nozzles which are measured in the measuring step.
An ink-jet head unit according to the present invention is characterized by the following arrangement.
There is provided an ink-jet head unit including a plurality of ink-jet heads, comprising position adjusting means for adjusting relative positions of the plurality of ink-jet heads, and angle adjusting means for adjusting inclination angles of the plurality of ink-jet heads.
Other objects and advantages besides those discussed above shall be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follow the description for determining the scope of the invention.